Just My Luck
by Slyfer911
Summary: After the horrors of Spain, Leon returns home safely with Ashley. Now, one year later, he will come face to face with a past he had hoped he had gotten rid of...
1. Prologue

Just My Luck

Prologue

The wind breezed through the open window as he forked another morsel of food into his mouth. "Mmm, I'll have to reward Jacob for this. This is absolutely delightful." As he raised his napkin to clean his lips, he heard on a knock on his door. He frowned and threw the napkin onto the table; no one disturbed him while eating. "This had better be important."

A young man dressed in a long robe nervously entered the dining room, dimly lit by the assorted candles that were set about the room. "S...sir, I'm very sorry to interrupt your meal, but we have news from our Spanish outpost, sir." The man smiled and took a sip from his chalice.

"What is it?"

The young man looked at him, afraid to speak. The man growled and set his chalice on the table. "I suggest you spit it out, Demetrius, before I begin to lose my patience." Demetrius looked at him, clearing his throat and shifting his hands restlessly.

"Sir, the Spanish outpost...I've just received word that it was completely destroyed. Lord Saddler is dead, as is Salazar and that American who joined our cause." The man's brow furrowed as he leaned forward over the table.

"What about the labs?" Demetrius shook his head.

"The entire island has gone up in flames. We don't believe there's anything left."

The man sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "What of the special sample that Sera took?" Demetrius shrugged, unable to answer.

"Lord Saddler did send word that he retrieved the sample from Sera, but we have no idea if it was stolen again or destroyed along with the rest of the island. As soon as the flames die down, we will send a team to inspect every inch of the island."

"Who did this?" Demetrius looked at his master, puzzled by his request.

"Excuse me?" The man growled and slammed his fist on the table sending its contents into the air and clattering to the floor.

"Demetrius, I am growing very tired of your imbecility! Who destroyed the island!" he exclaimed loudly. Demetrius shuffled nervously and tried his best to calm down.

"We don't know yet, sir. All we know is what Lord Saddler sent to us in his weekly report. It appears the Americans sent an agent to retrieve the girl that Lord Saddler had kidnapped."

"Impossible. One man could not even defeat Bittores, let alone kill Salazar, the American, Saddler, **and **destroy the entire island. They must have sent a team of men and only one survived."

"Well, I beg your pardon, my Lord, but Lord Saddler made it quite clear that the Americans sent one man." The man shook his head before waving his hand at Demetrius. "As soon as the fire is dead, send two teams; one to inspect the island, the other to check the castle and that nearby village. Anything that can be salvaged, I want brought back here immediately, understand?" Demetrius nodded before bowing and turning to leave the room. "Oh, and one more thing, Demetrius," he said, stopping Demetrius at the door.

"Sir?"

"Contact Marco. Tell him to see if he can find anything on this agent that the Americans supposedly sent." With a quick nod, Demetrius left the room, allowing the door to close with a loud click.

The man sighed before picking up his fork and starting to eat again before he stopped and threw the fork onto the plate.

"Perfect. Now I've lost my appetite."

* * *

"Hang on, ma'am. We're coming through some rough turbulence, so I suggest you strap yourself in." The woman nodded and pulled the restraining device over her, securing it with a click. Her eyes drifted over to the side of her and landed on a small case, a large biohazard symbol adorning its face.

The rough air blew through the open helicopter, whipping her short black hair over her face. _Great. Looks I need to cut my hair again,_ she thought to herself as the machine's engines began to whine. The helicopter shuddered as it began its sudden descent into the large base, jerking her around in her harness roughly. She glanced outside of the chopper and saw the ground beneath them as the machine finally set down on the helipad.

"Nice landing, ace," she said sarcastically as she released her harness.

"Sorry ma'am. First day on the job." She chuckled as she grabbed the case and hopped out of the helicopter, the whirring blades above her just starting to slow down, but still giving off a strong wind. "Well, be careful. This place isn't exactly kind to newcomers."

The pilot chuckled and tossed his helmet to the passenger side of the helicopter before opening the hatch and climbing out himself. "Thanks, ma'am. I'll remember that." He gave a quick salute before turning back to his machine and began his post-flight check of the equipment.

She turned around just in time to see a group of scientists clad in white rushing towards her. "Have you retrieved the samples?" a scientist, who appeared to be the leader, asked excitedly. With a roll of her eyes she held the case up.

"Obviously. Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to come back empty-handed? But you're not going to see them. I answer only to Wesker. Where is he?" The lead scientist folded his arms and pointed up to a tall building in the middle of the large complex.

"Where else? He's in that control room. He's been waiting for you."

"Good. I'm sure after Wesker's done with it, you can have all the fun you want with it." With a nod, she left the group of scientists and headed into the large complex. As she entered the medical facility, she shuddered at the horrors this company had created.

Walking across the metal walkway high above the facility, she had a birds-eye view of the B.O.W.s that they had created, or Bio-Organic Weapons. Rows and rows of tanks held Hunters, Tyrants, Zombies, Crimson Heads. They had even figured out to mass produce the Lickers, even if they were created entirely by mistake.

She continued through the facility, climbing flights of stairs, giving half-hearted greetings to the workers there before she finally stopped in front of a large, white door. With a sigh, she stepped forward, the door automatically opening with a loud hiss.

The room was dark, lit only by the numerous video screens that littered the wall. _Geez, I knew he liked to be in the know, but this is ridiculous. _A large black chair sat in front of her, sitting in front of a table, its back to her. "So, how was your trip, Ada?"

His voice was low, barely audible throughout the control room, yet held a very commanding tone to it. Ada shrugged and placed the case on the table between them. "It was a little bumpy, but overall I thought it was ok."

He chuckled, his back still to her. "Did you enjoy your reunion with your old friend?" Ada stepped back for a moment, surprised that he knew, but quickly regained her composure. "Don't worry. I'm glad that you let him know that you're working for me. You just alleviated my plans quite a bit for letting him live, and for that, I believe you deserve a reward."

Ada looked at his back strangely. People weren't exactly thrilled to receive a "reward" from Wesker, unless they were demented psychos who wanted to become a B.O.W. themselves. "I think I'll have to decline, Wesker. You know how I feel about injecting people with those 'abilities'," she said, preparing for the worst from him.

"Oh no. Those abilities are wasted on you, so I have something special in mind," he chuckled, whirling around in his chair to reveal himself to her. With a finger, he pushed his sunglasses up on the bridge of his nose and grinned.

"But first, tell me what you've observed about this parasite..."

* * *

"Agent Kennedy?" Leon awoke from the rough shoving that the woman above him was giving him. "Agent Kennedy, I know its boring having to wait for your debriefing, but you cannot fall asleep." Leon rolled his eyes at her and leaned back in his seat. She had **no** idea what he had been through in the past week. Escaping from that hellhole in Spain, traveling all the way back to Washington; he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in a week. Hell, he hadn't even been to his own apartment yet.

Yet here he was in the White House, waiting for his debriefing. He had to nearly bribe the agents there to let him take a shower and change into fresh clothes. "Agent Kennedy, are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear you. No sleeping. How much longer am I gonna have to wait out here?" The young secretary shrugged and strolled back over to her desk.

"It should be any minute now." Leon scoffed and rested his head on his hand.

"That's what you said almost half an hour ago." He shifted his weight, feeling his Blacktail rub against his chest. He smiled and patted the small firearm; how many had this thing saved his life in a jam? It was the only weapon from Spain that he had left; the Secret Service confiscated the rest of his weapons as soon as he touched down on American soil with Ashley. _You'd think I'd be able to at least keep a souvenir for saving Ashley,_ he thought cynically.

Ashley...he hadn't seen her since they arrived back in Washington; as soon as the chopper set down, the Secret Service burst in and took her too, saying they needed to take her to the hospital for a check-up. His thoughts were interrupted as the telephone rang loudly throughout the empty waiting room.

The secretary picked up the receiver and nodded before placing it back down. "Agent Kennedy, the President will see you now." _It's about damn time,_ he thought to himself as he rose from the chair and walked through the double doors. The Oval Office was filled with men in suits, staring directly at him.

"Agent Kennedy, I'd like for you to meet my cabinet. I thank you very much for the return of my daughter, and I am deeply indebted to you," an older man who appeared to be in his fifties said from behind a desk. His temples were starting to gray and his skin wrinkled slightly as he smiled at Leon. "I know it's been a very hellish week for you, so I'm going to make it as brief as possible.

"Mr. President, before we get started with the debriefing, I'd like to know how Ashley is doing." President Graham nodded as he pulled a file from under his desk and handed it to one of the members of his cabinet.

"Well, other than a bruise and a few cuts, she perfectly fine, thanks to you. Now, according to your report, Ashley's kidnapping was the fault of a religious cult, the Los Illuminados?" Leon nodded as President Graham continued. "Why were they after her?"

Leon cleared his throat. "Well sir, it was part of a conspiracy to take over the country. They were going to use Ashley in an assassination attempt on your life. In the resulting chaos, the Los Illuminados would come in and take over the country."

The cabinet chattered loudly about this before the President raised his hand for them to cease. "How exactly were they going to make my own daughter kill me? Brainwashing?" Leon chuckled.

"Excuse me, Agent Kennedy, but do you find something funny about this?" one of the cabinet members haughtily demanded.

"Yes, because if I told you, you wouldn't believe me anyway." President Graham leaned over his desk and folded his hands.

"Agent Kennedy, while this administration wasn't in office during the crackdown on Umbrella, I have seen files on their experiments. Trust me, right now you could suggest aliens or Elvis, and I would still believe you. Now what were they planning?"

With a deep breath, he explained the entire aspect of the Las Plagas and the Los Illuminados in front of the President and his cabinet. He even went into detail what exactly went on during his mission in Spain. By the time he finished his recollection, every man in the room was wide-eyed, unable to believe what he had explained.

"Well, Agent Kennedy, I'm sending a team to go back to Spain and check out the area. Now, obviously you've been through a lot. I would suggest that you go with them, but you need your rest. You can stay here in the States if you want."

Leon nodded. "Yeah, I'll want to stay here." The President nodded at his cabinet. "Hayes, I want you to prep a team immediately to go to Spain. Agent Kennedy, you're dismissed. You've got two weeks paid vacation." Leon looked at the President with surprise.

"Two weeks, sir?"

The President nodded.

"Yeah, two weeks. God knows you need it."


	2. Good Morning, DC

Just My Luck

Chapter 1: Good Morning D.C.

"Goood morning, D.C! It is a beautiful day here in the nation's capital on this September 17, 2006." The figure wrapped in sheets groaned and rolled over, trying to ignore the voices that blared out of the black box that sat on his nightstand. "It's 7:50 a.m.; let's all of you got your partying done and have gotten over your hangover for this Monday morning!"

The figure mumbled angrily as it pulled the pillow over its head. The radio continued to chatter away noisily, interrupting any lingering sleep that he could doze off into. Finally, with a groan, the sheets were lifted off and a disheveled-looking Leon Kennedy lurched up from his bead.

His hair stuck out in all directions, looking as if he had just taken a stroll through a wind chamber. He shuffled over to the restroom and yawned as he clicked on the light and stared at his reflection in the mirror. "God, Mondays suck," he said quietly to himself as he rubbed a hand over the light stubble on his face. The droning radio was accompanied by the hiss of water escaping the shower, followed by the sound of the curtain being pulled back.

Silently, he cleaned himself, trying to shake off the lingering effects of exhaustion from his body. "...looks like Brittney's finally dumping that guy huh? Ha-ha, that's hilarious. Well, in other news, you guys might want to be careful when you're out there at night. The police have been getting some calls about...," the sound of the radio seemed to fade out as Leon let the water run over his body and hair, rinsing off the suds that covered it.

Quickly, Leon went through his daily routine; shaving, brushing his teeth, combing his hair. He chuckled as he ran the black teeth of the comb through his ebony hair. Evans had been getting on top of him about his hair ever since he had transferred to the White House. Evans had first told him to cut it, but Leon wouldn't have any of that. It had taken a long time to get his hair length the way he wanted it; short on his left side, and twice as long on his right, letting the bangs fall over his eyes.

Evans had even gone as far as to complain to President Graham, but he had just ordered Leon to get rid of the extreme colors, so Leon finally got rid of the blonde and let his hair return its natural black color, matching the suit that he had to wear everyday. Leon dressed, pulling on the black double breasted suit and white shirt, black shoes, and matching tie.

Leon ran his eyes over his room, going through a mental checklist. Keys were in his pocket, cell phone was in his other pocket, shades were on; he would get his headset when he got to the White House...what was he missing? Leon felt himself down and cursed as he reached under his pillow and grabbed his weapon.

It was a midnight colored Blacktail, one of the best handguns out on the market right now. He had been offered a TMP to replace this handgun, but Leon refused. This gun had gotten him out of a lot of sticky situations; thankfully now it was more of a lucky charm than an actual weapon. He hadn't had to shoot something in a long time, and he was thankful. That psychotic chapter of his life was behind him, and he wasn't even trying to look back. He holstered the gun inside of his suit and clicked off the radio, exiting his apartment and locking the door behind him.

"Geez, you look like a Matrix reject or something," a voice chimed from behind him. Leon turned to spot a woman with shoulder length brown hair grinning at him. Leon rolled his eyes and spun his keychain around his finger.

"Marissa, that joke has gotten really old." She simply chuckled and flicked a stray hair behind her ear.

"Just cause it's old doesn't mean it's still not funny. I see you're all ready to play babysitter again. When you gonna go on one of those top-secret things you used to go on? It always used to feel cool to live next to a secret agent. Now, I just live near a guard who makes sure tourists don't get too close to the paintings." Leon nodded and tossed his keys up in the air and caught them.

"And that's exactly the way I like it. Trust me, if you had been on any of the assignments I had, you'd probably have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I've had enough excitement for two lifetimes." Marissa shrugged and patted him on the shoulder.

"Well, whatever floats your boat, I guess. See ya later," she called back as she walked down the hallway and disappeared into her own apartment. Leon chuckled to himself and exited the building, climbing into his car and beginning the drive to the White House.

His drive was silent; Leon didn't feel like hearing any of the obnoxious DJs this morning. Things just continued as usual as he drove through the streets of the city, passing up many of the famous landmarks that littered the capital. Finally, he arrived at the gates of the White House, and showed his id. The guards merely nodded and waved him on through.

Leon slowly pulled into his parking space and hopped out as a voice from behind him called his name. "Yo Leon, you're late!" A young black man walked over to him as Leon began to cross over to one of the many back doors of the President's residence. The young man shook his head and tossed a small bag to Leon and pulled open the door. His face was lean, and he had a smaller build than Leon. His hazel eyes glanced at him as he walked into the White House, followed closely by Leon.

"How can I be late? It's only...oh," Leon trailed off as he glanced at his watch. 8:45; he was supposed to report in at 8:15. "How could I be late? Traffic was fine...was it good on your side of town, Keith?" Keith chuckled and opened the bag that was in his hand, placing a white earpiece in his ear.

"It was ok, but I woke up on time, which is obviously more than I can say for you. Evans has been looking for ammo to gun you down with, and you just handed him a whole damn cache." Leon rolled his eyes and placed in his own earpiece.

"So, what's scheduled for today?" Leon followed Keith throughout the winding halls of the building, heading for the briefing room.

"Umm, I know we've got a school field trip today, and just the usual bunch of tourists. Nothing the infamous Leon Scott Kennedy can't handle," he added with a smile. He stopped in front of a large wooden door, which served as the entrance to the briefing room. "Well, except maybe this."

Before Leon could protest, Keith shoved open the doors, revealing a large a group of Secret Service agents sitting down, a large man with a light layer of stubble covering his lower jaw standing on a podium before all of them. "Well, well, Agent Kennedy...it's nice of you to decide to join us," Evans said dejectedly. "And Agent Adams, you've determined to grace us with your presence as well. What; did you two carpool or something?"

Keith smiled and placed his shades on. "Yeah, we actually did. Leon woke up late and as a result, he was late in picking me up. So if you want to get pissed off at somebody, get pissed at him." Leon jerked his head to his 'friend' and glared at him, trying to burn a hole into through his shades.

"Oh really? Well then, the both of you are on bathroom duty today. Have fun." Leon yanked his shades off.

"Bathroom duty! You have got to be kidding me! This is the first time I've been late in six months!" Evans glared at him from behind the podium.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Agent Kennedy. When did you get the notion that this was under debate? You and your buddy get bathroom duty. Briefing's over," he said as he shuffled the papers in his hand and left the room. Leon glowered at Keith, who stared back at him with a grin.

"What the hell was that all about, huh!" Leon snapped. Keith simply smiled.

"Remember that joke you pulled on me a few weeks ago? Consider this payback."

"I don't know why you're so smug; you're stuck with me on this crappy bathroom duty."

"It was all worth it to see you squirm under Evans' look. Damn, I wish I had my camera with me." Leon growled and pushed past to him to his newly assigned post, Keith following close behind him.

"Jackass."

* * *

"God, I hate this," Leon commented dejectedly as he robotically raised his arm and pointed down the hall. He and Keith and been assigned bathroom duty, a position it seemed to was created as a punishment to others. All they did all day was point tourists to the bathroom. Somebody walks up, point the way. It had been the same process for the past five hours.

"Jesus, my arm is aching so badly from pointing all day today. What the hell did they put in the water; Ex Lax or something?" Keith complained as he raised his arm to point to the bathroom. Leon shrugged. He was right; a lot more people were asking for bathroom; a lot more than normal.

"After all of the tours are done today, me and some of the other guys were talking about heading to Jocky's. You coming?" Leon shook his head.

"Nah, I think I'm gonna head on home today...put some ice on this damn arm." Keith chuckled before quickly straightening his face up and pointing towards the bathroom for yet another tourist. They had to maintain a professional demeanor, not unlike the famous guards in England. Thankfully though, they were allowed to move; they only had to stiffen up when anyone else came around.

They both relaxed again, and began their own mindless chatter, until a young woman came up to them for the bathroom. Both of them immediately stiffened up and pointed towards the room. The young woman nodded and turned to walk down the hallway, before stopping for a moment.

Keith and Leon exchanged glances for a moment as the woman collapsed onto the carpet. Leon quickly rushed to her side and turned her over. "Ma'am? Are you all right?" The woman groaned loudly and clutched her stomach tightly. "Keith, help me get her up. She's sick." Keith nodded and grabbed her under her arms while Leon grabbed her feet.

"All right, on three. One, Two, Three!" Both of them grunted as they hoisted her body up and began to carry her back to the hallway that she came from.

"Jesus, this lady weighs a ton! What the hell did she eat for breakfast; cement? That's why her damn stomach is hurting so much."

"Keith, for once, can we do something without your dumb ass remarks?" Keith rolled his eyes.

"You're one to talk. I think her group was around here," he pointed his head towards a turn, and both of them rounded the corner, Leon having to back his way around the turn. "Excuse me, we need help!" he yelled as the came around. He noticed Keith's eyes light up in surprise. "What is it?"

Leon turned his head, and stopped in his tracks. People were lying all over the floor, while the people who were still standing were rushing around, trying to tend to the fallen. It looked like someone had dumped sleeping gas into all of the vents and turned the air conditioner on full blast. Out a group of ten people, only three seemed to still be fine.

A young woman hurried up to them both as they sat their cargo down onto the ground and looked around them in surprise. "You found another one?" The young woman questioned them as she pulled a small flashlight out of her pocket and checked the lady's eyes.

"What happened?" The woman merely shrugged as she felt for the woman's pulse.

"We don't know. Just a few seconds ago, people just started collapsing, complaining of massive stomach pains. This woman's already gotten a cold sweat; I just don't get it. I've never seen anything like this. It's like an epidemic just happened to pop up in the past five minutes. Ma'am, does your stomach hurt?"

The woman groaned loudly and nodded. The woman who was examining her sighed and felt for her pulse again. "What the...," she looked up at them with surprise in her eyes.

"What's the problem, ma'am Are you a nurse or something?" Keith asked as she shook her head and felt for the woman's pulse again.

"Yes, I'm a nurse. But I can't explain her pulse, i...its fading. I can't understand it; she definitely wasn't fine, but she was nowhere near death. But now...,"her voice trailed off. The sickly woman's breathing began to intensify as she clutched the nurse's hand. Soon, her breathing subsided, and her chest let out its last gust of air.

The nurse stared at the woman for a moment and shaking her head. "She's dead. Can either of you call an ambulance? We need to-," she stopped abruptly.

"What's the matter? Are you feeling ok?" Leon asked as he kneeled down next to her.

"Those other people who collapsed...oh no," she gasped. She turned behind her and started to rise, but somebody else beat her to the punch. The woman who was lying on the ground swiftly grabbed the nurse's hand and sunk her teeth into it. Leon jumped back quickly as Keith pulled out his handgun and pointed it at the woman.

The nurse cried out in pain and surprise as she desperately tried to wrench her hand free of the woman's embrace. "Let go of her, now!" Keith ordered as he cocked the hammer on his Punisher handgun. The woman ignored her and bit even harder into the nurse's hand, causing her wrist to bleed heavily and drip onto the carpet.

"This is your last warning!" he warned, trying to yell over the shocked woman's screams. Her attacker merely ignored him as she shook her head fiercely and ripped off a large chunk of flesh from her wrist. The nurse fell backwards, splattering large sprays of blood onto the carpet and floor. Keith quickly pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into the chest of the woman.

She slammed back onto the carpet from the force of the shot, causing Keith to sigh deeply and place his gun back into his holder. "What the fuck was that!" he exclaimed as he rushed over the woman's injured arm and examined it. Leon stood there silently for a moment as he pulled his own weapon from its holster and kept it leveled at the now "dead" woman.

"Leon, will you stop screwing around! She's dead and this woman's bleeding to death! Go get some paramedics!" Leon simply stood there, pointing his gun at the woman on the ground. Keith opened his mouth to yell at Leon again, but was interrupted by the sound of gunfire erupting in the hallways of the building. Keith's eyes opened wide as he looked at Leon in surprise.

Keith's eyes opened even wider as the woman he had just shot slowly rose up from the ground and began to shuffle towards Leon, who steadily held his gun ready. Before he could even say anything, another gunshot filled the hallway as Leon fired a bullet straight into the woman's head. Her body continued to move forward, and then finally collapsed in a heap on the floor.

"Keith, we have to get out of here." Keith glanced back at the woman who had been bitten. She was dead; her eyes glazed over. He nodded and quickly stood up, checking the ammunition in his pistol. "Come on, we have to get to the Oval Office. Stay sharp, there might be more of them out here."

Slowly, Leon and Keith traveled through the halls of the building, still hearing the sounds of gunfire echo off of the walls. "What the hell's going on here? This is like some kind of nightmare," Keith finally said as they rounded another corner.

"How far is the West Wing?" Keith thought for a moment, and then pointed to their left.

"We're quite a ways off. We're in the center of the building; we've got to head this way, but-," Leon quickly cocked his weapon and started down the hallway, Keith bringing up the rear. "Leon, you're not answering my question! What the fuck is going on around here!" Leon ignored him as he pulled open the door in front of them, before stopping dead in his tracks. "Leon, talk to me dammi-," Keith also stopped suddenly, unable to speak.

A massive room that was once beautifully decorated with lavish furniture, expensive art, and lush draperies was now caked in blood, splashed all over the walls and the carpet. As they both slowly entered the room, a wet crunching sound seemed to emanate from the corner of the room, hidden by the four post bed. They crept to the side of the bed, and Keith retched at the sight that lay in front of them.

Three creatures were crouched in the corner, greedily yanking intestines and other organs from a body that was laying on the ground, shoving the entrails into their mouths. They chewed, spraying a large amount of blood from their mouths as they munched noisily on the organs. They sat for a few seconds, eating noisily, until one of them stopped and turned its head towards them.

The other two soon stopped and also turned to them, rising slowly from their positions. Their eyes were glassy and glazed over; showing no signs of life behind them as they slowly began to shuffle towards them. One of their jaws dropped, and an unearthly moan escaped its lips.

Leon glanced at Keith, who was shaking uncontrollably at the sight of the beings. Leon too, had to swallow his own fear as he raised his gun to them. "Keith, aim for the head."

"W-what? What are you talking about?" Slowly, they lurched closer.

"Shoot them in the head!" Suddenly, one of the creatures hissed loudly, and in a surprising burst of speed, grabbed Keith, sending them both to the floor, his gun sliding just out of reach. Keith screamed out in surprise as the thing hissed even louder and snapped at his face, dribbling blood and innards over his face.

"Shit!" Leon quickly raised his gun and backed away as another one jumped out and tried to latch onto Leon. With a yell, he quickly pulled the trigger, sending a bullet into its head. It shrieked, and collapsed to the floor, the other one following close behind. Leon wasted no time and fired again, hitting it directly in the forehead.

Keith steadily grappled with the creature on top of him as he tried to shove it off of him. Desperately, he quickly used his free hand and felt around for his Punisher. His palm brushed across it, and swiftly he grabbed it. The creature hissed again and opened its mouth wide, sending a barrage of odors that made him retch even more. He growled loudly, and shoved the gun into its mouth and pulled the trigger. The back of its head exploded in a shower of blood and brain matter, and it fell on top of him, lifeless.

He quickly shoved the creature off of him and rolled over, emptying the contents of his stomach onto the carpet, and then throwing up some more. Leon turned his head, barely able to keep the food in his stomach from coming back up. "Keith, you okay?" he asked as he walked over to a now heaving Keith.

Keith spat a large amount of saliva on the floor and looked up to Leon. "Does it fucking look like I'm okay!" he yelled as he leapt to his feet and shoved his way through another door, emerging into another hallway. "What in God's name is going on here, Leon!"

Leon quickly followed behind him, checking the hallway for any more of the zombies. "Keith, just calm down." Keith whirled around and grabbed Leon, shoving him into the wall.

"Calm down! Calm down!" he exclaimed loudly. "I just saw a person being eaten in that room. A woman got her wrist bitten off; I almost got killed just now, and you're asking me to calm down!"

Leon swiftly grabbed Keith and whirled around, shoving Keith into the wall. "I just saw it too, Keith! You don't think I'm scared! You think I see people being eaten every day! Do not let your fear take a hold of you! We will not get out of here alive if you freak out and panic! Pull yourself together!" he yelled into Keith's face. Both of them stood in the empty hallway, breathing heavily. Finally, after a few moments of silence, Leon spoke. "Are you cool?"

Keith shook his head, and Leon released his grip on the man's suit jacket. Keith quickly wiped the blood off of his face onto his sleeve, while Leon checked his ammunition. "How far are we from the West Wing again?"

"Just about 60 meters. If we go straight down this hallway and make a right, it's a straight shot." Leon nodded and began to take off towards the corner. Quickly, they rounded it and slammed into a body that was also rounding the turn. Almost instantly, Leon and Keith raised their guns, and found themselves staring into the barrel of a TMP submachine gun.

"Evans!" Their supervisor slowly lowered the gun, his suit ripped in many places and covered in blood. "W...where are the others?" Keith asked as he leaned against a wall.

"Dead. All of 'em; hell, I'm surprised I'm still alive," he answered as he checked the clip and reloaded his gun, tossing the empty magazine to the floor. "They just came out of nowhere...one minute it's just a routine tour, then suddenly all these people just start collapsing, even some of the guys.

Next thing I know, everyone's checking over the people who collapsed, and then people start screaming. I'm trying to figure out what the hell's going on, and one of those...things attacks me. People start shooting...it was chaos. God, all of those people," he trailed off as he stared into the light above them.

"Have you tried to get into the West Wing yet? Is President Graham all right?" Evans shrugged.

"He should be. The Oval Office has that secret room and a weapons cache in there. He's with some of the other agents, along with his cabinet; he should be fine." Keith looked up from the ground.

"What if some of those agents and cabinet members had collapsed and turned into one of those things? Did you even go check?" Evans' eyes opened wide with surprise as he cursed loudly.

"We have to go and see if the President's okay and try to evacuate him. He can't stay here forever, and I'm willing to bet that whole collapsing incident isn't confined to just this building." Leon was interrupted by the sound of glass smashing and wood crunching.

"Come on, let's get out of here. Hopefully there aren't too many of them left from where I came from."

* * *

The young man strolled through the alleyway, keeping his eyes open for any signs of movement. He sighed and ran a hand through his short red hair and continued his walk through the alley. A shrill ringing noise sliced through the quiet air as he slid his hand into his pocket and pulled out a slender cellular phone.

"Yes? Oh yes, I've gotten into the city...its taken effect already; and it's spreading through the city quite rapidly. We can expect a city-wide infection in the next..." he glanced at his watch. "Two hours. Give or take a few minutes...no, he's not supposed to contact me by phone; we're meeting somewhere...Yes, I'll make sure to glean every bit of information from him." Suddenly, he spots a zombie in the distance and grins.

"Can you hang on a sec?" Almost instantly, he dashes down the alley with inhuman speed and jumps onto the nearby wall before kicking off of it, twirling his body in the air and snapping the creature's neck with a powerful roundhouse kick. He lands back onto the concrete without a sound and removes the phone from his pocket.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I've just never seen one of this close up before, and they're so weak. How are these things a threat again? Yes, I know, their true strength is in numbers..." he rolls his eyes and places his foot onto the dead being's head. "Anyway, it should take about 24 hours before the rest of the world realizes what's going on and wipes this city out just like the other one. After that, it's simply a matter of pick-up and retrieval...Yeah, I released it into the sewers, so if anybody gets that bright idea, they've got a rude awakening ahead of them...okay, I'll contact you in...three hours. Make sure you raise the jamming signal, ok?"

The young man nods and closes the flip phone with a snap, before grinning and ramming his foot down, smashing the zombie's cranium with ease. "Now, I guess I'll have some fun till my appointment." With a light chuckle, he dashes out into the street, leaving the body behind.

* * *

"In here, hurry!" Evans yelled as he grabbed the door handle and yanked it open, running inside. Keith and Leon quickly rounded the corner and dashed into the door as well before slamming it shut and locking it. "That should hold them for a little while." All three of them turned and gasped as they spotted a large number of bodies littering the floor.

Evans slowly walked up to a corpse and examined it carefully while Leon and Keith held their guns ready. Evans sighed deeply and waved for them to put their weapons down. "They've changed, but they're all dead from gunshot wounds to the head." He looked around for a moment and chuckled. "Well, I'll be damned; finally we're starting to get lucky."

Leon holstered his gun and examined the room around them; the large desk, the portraits of long gone presidents...they had run smack dab into the Oval Office. "Yup, this is it alright. All of these guys are Secret Service and cabinet members," Evans said as he ruffled through the clothes of the dead men. He pulled out a few small rectangular objects and tossed them to Keith and Leon.

"You guys might need that ammo; keep it handy. It seems like that's all you got for now. Make 'em count," he said as he began running his hands along the wall, as if feeling for something. Leon ejected his empty cartridge and slid the fresh magazine into the gun before cocking the bullet into the chamber with a loud click.

"Damn, looks like we're too late. They must have gotten him, or he's one of 'em right now," Keith commented as he reloaded his own pistol. "So what's the plan now?" Leon shrugged as Evans chuckled.

"You need to learn, kiddo; not everything is what it seems." He pressed a small button embedded into the wall, causing the space next to him to slide open. Almost instantly, a gunshot rang out from the newly opened space, causing Evans and the others to duck for cover. "Hold your fire! We're human!" Leon held his gun at the ready and slowly edged into the room.

A Secret Service agent, looking disheveled in his black suit, slowly lowered his gun as the others entered the room, eyeing them suspiciously. "You're not of those things, are you?" he asked cautiously. Leon shook his head.

"The last time I checked, they weren't able to carry guns and shout 'Hold your fire.'" he said as he lowered his own gun and holstered it. "Where's the President? Is he okay?"

"I'm fine," a quiet voice spoke from the corner of the room. President Graham was sitting in a chair, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His fading blonde hair was unruly-looking, yet the same could be said for all of them. At his side sat a small, wiry man, shaking visibly. "Though I wish I could say the same for the others," he said as the Secret Service agent walked over to the wall and clicked the button, shutting the door behind them. "And you men are...?"

Keith holstered his gun as well and saluted him. "Sir, I am Agent-," he started before President Graham raised his hand, cutting him off.

"Kill the formal bullshit. As you can tell, rank or stature doesn't really make a difference right now."

"Oh, well, I'm Agent Keith Wallace. This Agent Leon Kennedy and Agent Stephen Evans." The President nodded.

"Ditch the Agent stuff, please. I guess I should introduce the others," he said as pointed to the man standing near the wall. "That's Christian Summers over there, and sitting down over there is Gerald Strathmore, my Secretary of Defense; but like I said earlier, titles don't really matter anymore."

Leon stepped forward. "Mr. President, we have to evacuate you out of here as soon as possible." The President looked at him for a moment and chuckled.

"Well, Agent Kennedy, seems you don't listen too well. Just call me Jonathan, ok? Now, you say you've got a plan for us to get out of here?" Evans shook his head.

"Not really. We only actually planned this far. We have no clue on how to get out."

"What about the helipad? We can send a call out for a chopper to pick us up," Keith suggested. Christian shook his head and leaned against the wall.

"That's no good. We already tried that, all of the channels are jammed. I tried my cell phone, but the signal was only good for about two minutes. By the time I realized the signal was clear, the phone had rung twice before it got jammed again. I hate to say it, but we're stranded."

Keith cursed loudly. "Looks like we're going to have to get out of the city some other way."

"Union Station?" Evans suggested. Leon shook his head.

"No, that place is probably packed to the gills with them. We'd wouldn't survive for two seconds in that place with anything less than an army. We need some other type of transportation."

The man who sat in the corner turned his head and finally spoke up. "W...we could just stay here," he suggested before Leon turned him down.

"No way. I'm guessing in about 24 to 36 hours, they're going to quarantine this city and cleanse it." Keith looked at Leon with a puzzled look.

"Cleanse it?"

"They're going to nuke it...just like that old Raccoon City eight years back. We can't stay here. If those things out there don't get us, the nuke sure as hell will." The President nodded.

"Yes, they briefed me on the new protocols they would going through if another disaster like that happened. I told them that in the off chance that I was trapped in a city with them, quarantine it and wait for three hours for some kind of contact from me. If they don't hear from me by then, they're going to launch a nuclear warhead."

Christian looked up at Leon with a suspicious look. "But how would you know about something like that, huh Agent Kennedy?" Leon looked at him for a moment and sighed.

"Because...I was in Raccoon City during the viral outbreak." The others looked at him with a look of surprise.

"You were in Raccoon City during the viral outbreak! Jesus H. Christ!" Evans exclaimed. Christian scoffed.

"Well, looks like we got us a bona-fide expert on viral outbreaks here; how lucky are we?" Jonathan glanced at Christian angrily and turned back to Leon. "Regardless of what he says, do you have any kind of advice we can use?"

Leon chuckled. "Not really. Just aim for the head, and try to stay out of public areas. Wherever we're going to go, we need to take back alleys; and we shouldn't fight unless we have to. All those gunshots will attract more of them."

"So where are we going to go anyway? We sure as hell can't just drive out of here; the train's a no-go, I don't think any of us know how to fly a plane or a chopper, and we can't call out for help," Evans rattled off.

"We can't use a public train, but I know one we can use," Jonathan suggested. The others perked at this glimmer of hope.

"Where?"

"At the Capitol. Underground is a bullet train we use for emergency evacuations. We were in the process of building one here, but they hadn't finished making the tunnel here. The train will take us all the way out to Virginia; then we can radio out and have them nuke the city."

Keith smiled. "Sounds like a plan. It should take us no more than thirty minutes to get to the Capitol on foot from here." Christian got up from the wall and took a glance out the window and whistled.

"Well, we better haul ass. It looks like they're getting impatient," he commented as he pointed out the window. The tall iron fence that lined the perimeter of the White House was covered by hundreds of zombies, trying to pound their way inside. Those bars wouldn't last long at all; they had to leave now.

All of the agents cocked their guns and checked their ammunition. Evans quickly pulled out a small silver handgun and handed it Jonathan. "It's not much, but it's better than nothing. Standard issue sidearm, twelve bullets, laser sight. You've got two extra clips; you know how to use a gun, right?"

Jonathan took the handgun and checked the ammunition before reloading the pistol and clicking on the laser sight. "Son, I was running black ops in Vietnam since before you were in diapers. I think I can handle this." Leon smiled as Evans walked up to the wall and prepared to push the button.

"Everybody ready?" Everyone shook their head, and Evans clicked the button. "Good. Let's get the hell outta here." The wall slid open and the other piled out of the room, intent on escaping the city alive.


End file.
